The United States has urged Malaysia to work closely with the United Nations' refugee agency in processing migrants rescued off its shores.

US Assistant Secretary for Population, Migration and Refugees, Anne Richard, said Malaysia should open its doors to the UNHCR to speed up the processing of the migrants currently held in the northern state of Malaysia.

The Southeast Asian country is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees.

Malaysia wants the migrants to be resettled within a year, a timeframe Anne Richard said was unrealistic.